Andy Burnham is set to be installed as Prime Minister in just three weeks – despite having the feeblest mandate in British political history.

The self-styled ‘King of the North’ is on course for a ‘coronation’ next month after Keir Starmer dramatically resigned less than two years after his landslide election win.

But Daily Mail readers led the call for an early election on Monday night, with 89 per cent of 60,000 online votes telling Mr Burnham to go to the ballot box.

Opposition leaders questioned the right to govern of a man who was backed by just 25,000 voters in the Makerfield electorate – barely 0.05 per cent, or one-2,000th, of the electorate.

Nigel Farage called for an immediate general election, saying it was ‘ridiculous to pretend that Andy Burnham has any kind of meaningful mandate to lead the country’. He added: ‘If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No 10, it has another thing coming.’

Some reaction from across the pond, where US President Donald Trump – who lets face it has not always been Sir Keir’s biggest cheerleader – has been giving his two cents on today’s developments.

Speaking from the Oval Office, he said: ‘He’s a very nice man… sort of a friend of mine.

‘He was not good to us with NATO, Pete [Hegseth]. He said we can’t use the island – that was a first. For a couple of weeks.

‘He said: ‘Ultimately, I gave it to you’.

‘That was a bad move, that hurt him badly. I wish him well – but he’s got two problems: Energy, immigration… and crime.

‘But energy and immigration. And, you know, he’s really hurt himself very, very badly.’

Some of Starmer’s rare successes in the early days of his premiership came through his dealings with the US and other major powers.

But things soured between the pair, with Sir Keir and his American opposite number disagreeing on matters including recognising Palestine as a state, and the UK’s lack of involvement in the Iran War.

It culminated in Trump dismissing Starmer as ‘no Churchill’, although his comments today suggest that behind closed doors he maintained a semblance of a friendly relationship with the PM.

With Sir Keir Starmer set to be replaced by Andy Burnham (sorry Al Carns and Darren Jones), it marks yet another male appointment to the top seat.

In a history spanning over 100 years, Labour have not had a single female leader despite the Conservatives having four in that period.

Baroness Harriet Harman – who has fronted the party in the past but only as in interim charge – told Sky this is ‘mortifying and embarrassing and inexplicable’.

‘I joined the Labour Party because I believed it to be the party of equality,’ she said. ‘I’m 75 now. Is it too much to ask that in my lifetime I will live to see a woman Labour leader?’

As he announced his resignation this morning with tears welling in his eyes, it seemed clear the job of Prime Minister has weighed somewhat heavily on the shoulders of Sir Keir.

So the last thing you would expect would be for the departing premier to make an immediate return to the flailing Labour Government.

But Sarah Champion – chair of the International Development Select Committee – is tipping Starmer to do exactly that… and find a cosy seat in the Cabinet as the next Foreign Secretary.

She told Sky News that Sir Keir has ‘been brilliant on the foreign stage’ and added that it would be a ‘very smart position to give him’.

Baroness Harman – brought in by the Prime Minister as Adviser on Women and Girls last month in a last ditch attempt to add some heft to his support base – also agreed that Starmer would make a good Foreign Secretary.

In some ways, the appointment would make sense given the good relationships Sir Keir held on the international stage, in contrast with his record-low approval levels back at home.

And the move has a precedent. In 2023, David Cameron made a sensational return to the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary seven years after standing down as PM – despite not even being an MP at the time.

We previously heard about the leadership ambitions of former armed forces minister, Al Carns, who has not ruled out a bid for the top job in politics.

A similar story can be seen with Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones who is being encouraged by some Labour MPs to mount his own challenge to replace Sir Keir Starmer, the BBC reports.

The Starmer loyalist watched on this morning as the Prime Minister resigned.

Neither of these two leadership hopefuls can be classed as Labour big beasts, but if they choose to take on Andy Burnham they might do enough to give the party’s heir apparent a headache or two.

The heir apparent of the Labour party has enjoyed a rapid rise to the top seat of British politics in the first half of 2026 – but he may have a few more bridges to cross.

Burnham was not even an MP when Sir Keir Starmer won a landslide General Election victory in two years ago so there will be some in Westminster holding the view that enough has changed since that July day to prompt another election.

Among them is former home secretary Alan Johnson who told the BBC this evening that should ‘be brave’ and ‘go to the country’.

He added: ‘MPs won’t like it. It’ll be a very bold thing to do. It might set a precedent that others in the future will have to follow, but it will help restore trust in politics, and that is Andy’s big plus.’

Mr Burnham does not have to call an election until August 2029, but might want to secure his own mandate by going to the country.

It’s hard to believe that Andy Burnham only made his much heralded return to the House of Commons this afternoon, given the length of time he has been openly plotting his leadership push.

A month ago, he was still the Mayor of Greater Manchester – a role in which he had great success and planted the seeds of the notion he may be the saviour of the Labour party.

He stood down after a seat in nearby Makerfield became available and immediately kicked off his by-election campaign.

Four days ago, he nervously awaited the result of the vote in the Wigan constituency – which despite his profile was not a foregone conclusion, with Reform UK confident of causing an upset.

And in just a few short weeks from now, the self-styled ‘King of the North’ could be letting himself into No10, marking the completion of a dramatic return to Westminster for the former mayor.

After key rival Wes Streeting today offered his support to Burnham, a coronation looked increasingly likely – and Andy may be arriving in Downing Street to wrap up a remarkable 2026.

Keir Starmer appeared to be dealt a final humiliation today after the UK-EU summit scheduled for next month was postponed amid Labour’s leadership crisis.

The Prime Minister had been hoping to finalise his much-trumpeted Brexit’reset’ deal at the Brussels meeting on 22 July.

But, now that he has announced his intention to quit as PM once a replacement is chosen, Sir Keir has seen the summit pushed back.

It means it will be up to Sir Keir’s successor – widely expected to be ex-Greater Manchester mayor and new Makerfield MP Andy Burnham –  to formally sign off Labour’s ‘reset’ package with EU leaders.

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The near unanimous feeling in Westminster seems to be that Burnham’s ascent to Prime Minister will be something of a cakewalk – and indeed most of his apparent rivals have in recent weeks fallen by the wayside.

But he may still have to jump one more hurdle in the shape of Al Carns – the armed forces minister who followed John Healey out of the Ministry of Defence earlier this month.

He’s not one of Labour’s most famous faces, but former soldier Carns is said to harbour leadership ambitions – and might even get a few MPs on his side.

Carns has not endorsed Burnham publicly and today said the next leader of the party must ‘govern differently so that Britain becomes stronger on every front at once’.

His popularity among the UK’s electorate might have plummeted to record lows, but there are a few familiar faces who have some nice words to say about the departing premier.

Amid a string of U-turns and feeble leadership at home, Starmer often cut a more confident figure overseas – and for all the jibes about ‘Gap Year Keir’, there’s no denying he made some friends abroad.

Chief among them is probably Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who today said the outgoing PM was ‘striving to do what is needed and what will truly help’.

Sir Keir helped establish the Coalition of the Willing to support the Ukrainian war effort and enjoyed some productive trips to Kyiv.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney meanwhile said: ‘The world is safer and allies are more united because of his [Starmer’s] efforts.’

And French President Emmanuel Macron commended Starmer for ‘strengthening the Franco-British relationship, his commitment within the coalition of volunteers for Ukraine, as well as to the revival of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union’.